Many policemen looked busy in the early hours of work.
Although there are those who work outdoors, there are some who work indoors, in
the Creamland police station. While their friends catch criminals and fight
crime, those in the station take care of paperwork. Some policemen were kept in
the station as reserves, in case something happens to the main policemen.
Eddie was in the
police station, because he had a ton of work to do. He was left head-scratching
when he came across the papers on his table, but he slowly got over it. The
same situation could be said of Big Man, although he looked more relaxed.
While they were
working, Big Man took the time to talk to Eddie. He asked, "Yo, how much
paperwork is left for you?"
Eddie gave a sad
face, but smiled as though he was forced. He then replied, "A lot
more."
"Good
luck," the big-sized Big Man replied. "I say the same thing to
myself."
"Not much we
can complain about," Eddie said. "This is our duty after all."
Meanwhile, Joe and
Jamal were in the mosque. Jamal entered the mosque, but Joe was unsure whether
he could so the same. However, Jamal said it was okay to enter. The two Js
entered the mosque together.
Jamal's purpose of
entering the mosque was to meet the religious teacher in charge. Jamal would
sometimes attend the teacher's religious classes in his free time. He was
curious as to the right way to recite some words in the recitation book. Thus,
he sought help from the teacher.
At the same time
Jamal was walking to find the teacher, he came across a thick-bearded figure.
The figure was also wearing a white robe usually worn by the religious teachers
in the mosque. The figure was then reading a religious book but, he soon turned
his attention to Jamal. He looked at Jamal with bright eyes.
Jamal turned his
attention elsewhere. He eventually met the teacher, and went on by telling him
his problems.
"Good morning,
teacher," Jamal said.
"Good morning,
Jamal," the teacher replied. "What brings you here?"
"I came here
because I need help with reading this," Jamal said. He showed parts of the
religious book that he did not know how to recite.
The teacher
understood, and went on by teaching Jamal hoe to recite the right way.
The thick and
long-bearded figure was reading when he noticed Joe sitting in front of him.
Joe was playing his phone. The figure looked upset and frowned before returning
to his book. However, when he saw Joe playing again, he said something.
"Good
morning!" the figure said to Joe.
Joe was shocked with the loud voice. He soon
replied, "Good morning, Mister."
The figure said,
"What brings you to this beautiful mosque?"
Joe replied,
"Err...nothing much. I am eating for my friend."
The figure said,
"You mean that brother over there?” while pointing to Jamal.
Joe said,
"Yes."
The figure then
asked, "What is your name, brother?"
Joe replied,
"My name is Joe."
The figure looked
confused. "Joe...? Are you a people of this religion?"
Joe said that he was
not. Then, the figure said, "An infidel cannot be here. Haram!"
"But my friend
said I can," Joe replied.
"Haram means
forbidden. You cannot enter this masjid, because you are not pure fron
impurities."
"I took bath
this morning."
"Still you are
an infidel. HARAM!"
"Look, I do not
know what your problem is, but..."
"Do not mess
with me, brother."
Jamal was finished
discussing with the teacher. He then asked who the figure he saw earlier on was.
"Actually," the teacher said, "he is a policeman. He
recently moved here to carry on his work."
"Really?"
Jamal said. "He does not look like a policeman."
"Jamal, do not
judge a book by its cover."
"Where does he
work?"
"Occasionally,
at Creamland Police Department. He is a detective."
Upon hearing his teacher's
response, Jamal looked surprised. It looked like he just met a new friend, and
more surprisingly, from the same department. However, he was not fine seeing
his friend Joe and the bearded police quarrel. Jamal went to them to help solve
the problem.
"What is going
on here?" Jamal asked.
"You!" the
police said. "Why do you let your infidel friend enter the mosque? Is it
not haram?"
Jamal replied,
"No, it is not. Anyone can enter the mosque, regardless of religion, but
they all have to be well-behaved."
The teacher joined
the conversation. He said, "Jamal is right, Mr. Policeman. Anyone can
enter the mosque. In fact, I know Joe right there. He is one of my
friends."
"Brother,"
the police said, "you are making a mistake. We should not befriend infidels.
They are our enemies!"
"Brother,"
the teacher replied, "God never told you to treat people like that. Please
do not call people an infidel directly. It is not kind."
"Really?"
the police asked.
"Yes," the
teacher replied. "By the way, what is your name?"
"My name is not
important," the police said, "but you can call me the Haram
Police."
"Okay, Mr.
Haram Police, nice to meet you," the teacher said.
Jamal then greeted
the Haram Police.
"Hi!"
Jamal said with a smile. "I just heard you are a detective in
Creamland."
"Sure I
am," the police replied. "I want to keep things safe, and keep people
away from the forbidden."
"Am I
forbidden?" Joe asked. "I know I am not like you, but I do not
believe that I am an infidel."
"Joe," Jamal
said, "please relax."
"Fine,"
Joe replied. "I will, as long as he does not mess with me."
"Do not worry,
brother," the police said. "I only do the right thing."
Figuring there was
no point in quarrelling, Joe left the mosque with Jamal. After they left, the
Haram Police continued his recitation. His phone would soon ring. He was given
some urgent work that needed to be done.
The man on the phone
was the police chief. He said that a group of archaeologists disappeared from
the excavation site in Swan Falls, near Swan River. In a few seconds, the Haram
Police changed to his casual clothes, but he kept his skull cap on. With that
being done, he rushed out of the mosque to go to Swan Falls.
Around the same
time, Joe was walking home when he received a call from a policeman, a friend
of his. It turned out that there was a person flying around the causing trouble
at the city. The person called himself Flyer. Joe was also informed about the
Swan Falls incident, but since he was already near the city, he and Jamal
decided to check the flying man out.
Joe parked at a safe
place and immediately after getting out, he saw some sort of flame being
released towards the road in front of him. A hole was created, one of many
already present on the long stretch itself.
"Looks like my
powers are super," Flyer said. He then declared, "I, Flyer, will be
king of the city, then the world, and I can get rich!"
"Is that
so?" Joe shouted. "I would like to see you try."
Jamal told Joe to
follow him and hide before they both get fried by the flame.
"What is the
plan?" Joe asked Jamal.
"Looks like we
have to do this carefully," Jamal said. "I try to distract him, while
you find a way to disable his flying machine."
"Good
idea," Joe replied, "but I want to keep that machine."
"Forget that
now," Jamal told his friend. "We have to stop the Fyler before he
hurts others."
Soon, they both made
their moves. When Flyer was still on the air, Jamal went out of hiding and ran.
Flyer saw him. Jamal just shouted, "Hey, catch me if you can!"
Flyer just replied,
"With pleasure."
Jamal ran off to get
away, with Flyer close behind. However, Flyer proved too fast. At the same time,
Joe was thinking of following the action behind Fyler, but he found something
else. He found masked criminals guarding a van, with hostages in it. Joe
thought he had to rescue the hostages.
He went sneaking
towards the criminals, and without time to lose, he punched one after another.
However, one of them grabbed him from behind. Luckily, a strong Joe managed to
break free. Later, he received help from Masked Man. Masked Man took the
criminals down without many problems. The criminals were caught, while some
surrendered and ran away.
Flyer was trying to
catch Jamal but, eventually, he did it. He floated to the air at high speed and
threw Jamal further up. Jamal was terrified and was close to landing backbone
first onto the pavement, but Masked Man was there to save him just in time.
Masked Man managed to grab him and saved him from death.
A determined Joe saw
that Flyer landed. He then shouted, "You there! Take this," and
quickly shot his water pistol. The impact from the water pushed Flyer to the
ground.
Flyer was quick to get back up, but he stumbled across the
Haram Police. It turned out that the police did not go to Swan Falls because
the city was nearer to the mosque. Besides, other people were flocking in Swan
Falls, to get insights on the excavation incident.
The Haram Police
said, "Look who the cat dragged in."
"Excuse
me?" Flyer said.
"Excuse
yourself," the Haram Police said. Then, with a hard punch, the Flyer went
out cold. His assistants, the masked criminals appeared later. Four of them, to
be exact, but they decided to surrender eventually.
"It is forbidden
to wear excessive clothing, Haram!" the Haram Police said to Flyer.
"Ouch! That
really hurt!" Flyer replied.
"Care to talk
more behind bars?" the police asked, while holding a handcuff.
Suddenly, Flyer took
out a remote. Once he pushed one of the buttons on that remote, a light flame
burst from the bottom of his flying machine, in turn elevating him further up.
"No chance for
me to get caught, not this time!" Fyler said as he left the area.
The policemen
regrouped. They were going through a difficult day, with another mystery yet to
be solved. However, they would focus on the investigations at Swan Falls.
Regardless whether they caught Fyler or not, they decided to concentrate more
on the incident at Swan Falls.
"Say, Jamal,
you okay?" Joe asked.
"I am fine,
thank you," Jamal replied. "Thank you, Masked Man."
"You are
welcome," Masked Man. "Just thought of helping because I appeared to
be on town."
Joe said, "You
were always in town."
Masked Man nodded.
Joe asked Jamal,
"Are you going to Swan Falls?"
"I guess
not," Jamal replied. "I need to rest after all that action."
"Good,"
Joe said. "You deserve it, by the way."
The Haram Police was
already moving in his car. He definitely looked spirited to fight bad people.
Joe proceeded after sending Jamal back to his house. He initially went with
Masked Man sitting in his car, but Masked Man disappeared. Regardless, Joe
realised he had better things to do.
As he drove off the
neighborhood, Masked Man looked from a distance. "Good luck,
detectives," he said softly.
It took 30 minutes,
minus traffic, to get to Swan Falls. The traffic was the main problem for Joe,
and it left him stranded on the highway. He eventually found a shortcut through
an old tunnel. 'What a relief', he thought after he moved away from the crowded
cars on the highway.
The detective
arrived late, but people were still working. Some policemen searched the area
for clues, while some journalists were still eager to cover the story of the
archaeology team's disappearance. The evening sun was shining bright, and many
people were drenched in sweat, including Joe.
Eddie was there with
the police chief. While the chief got busy with the media, Eddie moved away
from him to meet Joe.
"Joe, about
time you showed up," Eddie said.
Joe replied,
"Sorry, but there was heavy traffic."
"Forget that,
anyway," Eddie said. "We have a lot of work to do here. Have you met
Mr. Haram Police right here? He is..."
Eddie was briefly
introducing the Haram Police to Joe, but Joe already knew.
"It seems that
we have to work together this time," the Haram Police said.
"Really?"
Joe said. "All right, then, just as long as you do not call me
names."
"Whatever you
say," Haram Police said.
"Where is
Jamal?" Eddie asked.
Joe replied,
"He had a rough day, so I sent him home."
"I understand
that," Eddie replied. "It is okay. But we got to find more
clues."
While people were
busy working in the Swan Falls archaeological site, some suited individuals
appeared. They shoved police officers, telling them to move away. It turned out
that they were rival archaeologists. Joe and Eddie looked on.
Their leader was a
well-known archaeologist named Albert. He looked well-built and muscular. By
wearing a suit, he looked bigger than he already was.
Albert went near the
archaeological site's entry, which is a small hole, and said, "All of you,
please pay attention. Now that the whole team has vanished, it is my turn to
dig in this vast area, to make amazing discoveries, find amazing evidence of
ancient human civilization down here." With that, he took a small lever
and entered it.
A few policemen,
including the chief, went against Albert, but he did not care much. He just
pushed the lever down. With that, down he went, possibly to the bottom of the
site, where it is very dark.
"He was not
supposed to go in there," the chief said.
"Nobody
should," Eddie said, "but if the others are down there, we should try
our luck."
"Are you
serious, Eddie?" the chief asked.
Big Man also asked
the same thing. "Yo, are you serious?" he asked.
"Absolutely," Eddie responded. "In fact, Joe will go down
there with me."
"What?"
Joe responded in surprise. "But I do not see well in the dark. Why not you
take Haram Police instead?"
Haram Police started
to argue with Joe. He said, "You go down there! Eddie told you."
"Well, I think
you should instead of me. I told you, I do not see well in the dark," Joe
responded in anger.
"Grr..."
"Grr..."
Eddie cooled his
friends down.
"Brothers,
please stop, seriously," Eddie said to them. "Why not you both go
down there?"
"What about
you?" Joe asked.
"Fine,"
Eddie replied. "I will."
"Hooray!"
Joe exclaimed. "Thank you."
"Let us get
moving," Haram Police said.
The three policemen
used the same lever to go underground, but something terrible happened on the
way down. The wire accidentally snapped, sending them down at a fast speed.
They eventually landed underground, but the lever was broken and there was not
much they could do about it. Eddie landed on the hard surface and suffered a
back ache as a result. However, he was slightly recovered afterwards.
Joe could not see
well, so he borrowed Eddie's torchlight. The Haram Police followed them into an
opening in the base of the site. They initially found nothing but, once they
went a distance, they realised the existence of precious gemstones and coal.
They did not know whether they were authentic or not, so they went ahead with
their task, which was to search for clues. Probably the clues might help them
locate the missing archaeologists, if they are still alive.
As the Haram Police
moved, he fell to the ground. Eddie and Joe reluctantly helped him get back up.
However, once they all stood on their feet, they encountered bats. The bats
moved fast like the wind, pushing the three off. Some bats left the underground
and that alarmed many people, including the police. Fortunately, no one was
hurt. The three police carried on until they found a dead end.
Although it was a
dead end, it did not look exactly like one. There was a crack around the wall.
Although the wall could not be opened, they tried hard. Eventually, the Haram
Police heard a sound of someone approaching.
All of a sudden, the
rounded crack opened up, and Flyer appeared. He pulled the Haram Police and
slammed him to the ground. Joe and Eddie would then be dragged off to the
ground as well.
A painful recovery
it was for Joe, as he hurt his ankle. When he opened his eyes wide, he would be
surprised to see the missing archaeologists found. However, they were all tied
up. Meanwhile, Flyer folded his arms and called for his boss.
"Boss, we got
company," Flyer said. A suited figure eventually appeared, with a golden
bull sculpture on his hands. That figure was Albert. It turned out that he was
behind the disappearance.
"Albert the
archaeologist?" Joe said. "Why?"
Albert replied,
"Yes, that is true. Why, you ask? Well, I am a well-known archaeologist,
and my reputation was going great until this gang of misfits came to the scene.
They stole my reputation and, as a result, I am going to regain it."
Joe was confused. He
said, "What mask is that?"
"This,"
Albert replied, "is a replica of a Minoan mask. It is gold and worth a
million in value. It is also mine."
Joe asked,
"What about those gemstones and coal?"
"Those
gemstones," Albert replied, "were just part of the distraction. The
coal, however, is real."
Eddie started
talking and said, "Where are the real gemstones?"
Albert replied,
"That is none of your concern. You are wasting my time."
The Haram Police
looked a little angry. He stood and said, "This is haram." Albert did
not understand what he just said.
The police
continued, "This, what you are doing, stealing the golden mask, gemstones,
and so on, is haram. No question about it. Haram means forbidden..."
"Who are you to
tell me that?" Albert shouted.
"I am
just," the police replied, "a policeman."
"No," Joe
said. "You are the Haram Police."
Haram Police looked
at Joe with an angry face at first, but then he turned his attention to Albert
and Flyer. He said, "You know what? I am the Haram Police."
Joe added,
"Your actions are unquestionably forbidden, even in the law. Like my
friend said, that is haram!"
Haram Police said,
"You still think we are friends?"
Joe said, "We
talk about this later, all right?"
Haram Police said,
"Okay."
"I do not
care," a furious Albert replied. "Prepare to meet your doom! Guards,
seize them!"
With the order,
guards wearing bull masks appeared. They brought along wooden sticks to beat
their prisoners up.
Unknown to Albert,
one of his guards acted out of character. He stood behind another guard and hit
the guard's body with a stick. Then, another guard took down two guards. Albert
could not believe what he saw. The policemen, who were about to get beaten,
were puzzled by the turn of events.
Soon after they took
down the other guards, the two 'guards' removed their masks. It was revealed
that they were actually Jamal and Masked Man.
Joe was amazed.
"Jamal? How did you find out?"
Jamal replied,
"The clues our friends found are very useful and leads us here."
Joe asked,
"Well, nice to see you are okay now."
Jamal laughed and
said, "You can tell."
Albert had just
about enough. He ordered Flyer to fire the flame to the policemen and Masked
Man. However, Joe shot his water pistol just in time to throw Flyer off to the
ground. Jamal proceeded by throwing small stones before activating electricity
to the stones. Flyer could be electrocuted and his flying machine caught fire,
but Joe put the fire out after he activated his extinguisher mode on his water
pistol. Fyler lied on the ground almost motionless but still breathing.
After witnessing his
friend being taken down, Albert decided to run. He wore the golden bull mask
and brought a large plastic bag with him into his truck. However, he was too
late. The police eventually arrived at the destination and he was arrested.
"No!" he
shouted. "I am the true champion, the best archaeologist. You cannot
arrest me. No!" He was taken to prison anyway.
A few policemen
removed the bag from the truck. Once they opened it, they were surprised to see
actual gemstones and even coal. There were also some golden plates, and
beautifully decorated plates. One of them said, "Wow! I did not expect to
find these precious things." The policemen were surprised indeed.
As for the
archaeologists, they were freed and moved back to the surface from the
underground. Albert's team of archaeologists retreated elsewhere. Meanwhile,
Joe talked to Jamal.
"Nice teamwork
just now," Joe said.
Jamal replied,
"Oh, it was nothing. I just help out when I can."
"We all did
well," Joe said, "which makes me happy."
Then, the Haram
Police appeared. He looked at the two Js with bright eyes. Initially, he just
stared at them. Then, he smiled.
"Oh,
great!" Joe said. "You finally smiled."
Haram Police
replied, "I did not say that I cannot smile."
"This is
funny," Jamal said, "but it is good to see you all in good
terms."
"Are we?"
Joe said, with his eyebrows raised.
The police said,
"Brothers, I learned a valuable lesson today."
The Haram Police
said that the two Js, along with other friends, taught him that religious
difference is no barrier to peace, justice and good teamwork. He also realised
his mistakes earlier in the day, and promised to never make them again. With
that, he offered an apology to Joe, which was accepted.
Later, the Teacher
came to see them.
"Brothers," he said, "I believe that you had an
interesting adventure."
"Sure,
Teacher," Jamal said. He went on with the story. They all talked until it
was time to go back home.